REVIEW: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. 1×12 “Seeds”

Every hero needs a villain, Batman has Joker, Superman has Lex Luthor, and now Fitz has Donnie. His own greatest failure, and boy was it fun to watch this villain change. So far we have not gotten many super villains, but Donnie seems like he has some real potential, especially now that he has both motivation and powers to go after the team. “Seeds” managed to give us what I would easily say is one of the best episodes of S.H.I.E.L.D. to date by giving us multiple compelling storylines, some fun character building, and an interesting villain. This is what the show should attempt to be on a weekly basis rather than just your run of he mill spy caper show, as there are way to many bad ones on television. If S.H.I.E.L.D. wants to stand out they will need to immerse themselves in the campiness of the comics and enjoy the moments. So let’s dive in.

This episode managed to have a lot of great things going for it, but none were better then the reveal of Donnie Gill aka Blizzard. Dylan Minnette did a great job of portraying a social outcasted Donnie who was being manipulated by his “friend”, a side rarely seen of his comic book counterpart. Minnette was not Sherlock but rather someone who was too smart for their own good, someone who was dying for a real friend/mentor to come along and you could really feel all of those emotions. His scenes with Fitz were particular high notes as you could see he idolized Fitz’s brain and ability to make friends though Donnie unfortunately made the wrong friend. Donnie is now going to be the mirror image of Fitz and with his new powers he will hopefully be a true force when Centipede inevitably goes after him and Graviton. Minnette owned this role and I can’t wait to see what he does when he goes full Blizzard.

As for the rest of the team I have to say it was nice finally getting to see FItz and Simmon’s roots at the academy. Seeing the groups of cool and popular nerds was a nice touch but the real clincher was the talk between the two and the auditorium of students. It was a superb touch to have the students be reminded that everything they hope to accomplish could come at a significant cost to not only themselves but also those they care about. Donnie learned this lesson the hard way, but Fitz learned that the reason behind the talk is all to real. There are seriously dangerous people out there who will do anything to get ahead of the game, Quinn is just a broker the Clairvoyant seems to be much more dangerous than him by a mile. It was nice to see Quinn play another major role in creating a super villain, that makes him two for two. Hopefully when he next shows up it will be three for three.

I would of course be remiss if I did not talk about Coulson and Skye’s heart to heart as it was not only really touching, but also moved Skye’s story forward in a very important fashion. Up until this point Skye had been so focused on finding out where she came from that it completely negated the reason she was on the plane. The plane is her new family, the first real one she has ever had even if she did not know it. By accepting the fact her past is dead and no good will come from looking back she can finally be a real solid member of the team, rather than the usual pick and plop we had been getting up to this point. What is even more enjoyable was Coulson’s decision to finally tell the truth after the reevaluations of last week. I don’t expect this to become a spy show with no lies or secrets, but honestly that sounds like a really interesting idea. No lies, not secrets, just a team that manages to work well because they are honest with each other, that is something I want to see.

Overall this was a fantastic episode, probably the best of the whole season so far.

Final Grade A-

+Dylan Minnette as Donnie

+Skye and Coulson’s character moments

+Fitz and Simmons speech

+An all around great story

Extra Thoughts

-I can’t imagine S.H.I.E.L.D is ok with all the underage drinking and gambling in the science school. Although it is probably better that the fight club the Ops school is running.

-Blizzard usually runs in a team, smart money is on Mike, Graviton, and one other baddie coming after the team together.